A/N: Hello there, Fatal Frame fans and whoever else you are. Before you read this story, I would like to inform you that I don't own any of the characters in here or in the actual game, and I also do not own the background story of the main character. However, I do own most of the plot of this story. Also, this takes place in the first Fatal Frame game but includes a character from Fatal Frame III. If you wish to know more, please read on. But if you think this is a waste of time, then leave. Any questions? Now let's start. Oh wait, one more thing... This story was requested by HinasakiSasuka93, previously known as FatalFramerfan34. So Sasuka-san, if I disappoint you at all with this story, forgive me. There might be some slash in this story, but I don't know. Anyways, I'll stop talking now. Read on, please.

"Aoichi, I need to speak to you."

The master of the Himuro Mansion moved up close to the face of a boy he strongly disliked, glaring at him with black piercing eyes that resembled those of a crow. In fact, this boy was the only one in the whole entire mansion who seemed to disgust him. No one had an idea why, but they knew he found abusing him very pleasing.

The boy winced at the sudden tug at his ear. Blood started oozing out from his lobe, but he held back his tears so that Lord Himuro wouldn't tug at it again.

Lord Himuro spoke. "Aoichi, what have you done today?"

The young boy was afraid to speak the truth, for he had failed to do what the master had told him to do. The master reached out for his bleeding ear and threatened to tug it more if he wouldn't answer.

"I...I..."

"Did you?" Lord Himuro's grip became stronger as Aoichi hesitated to answer.

Aoichi whimpered, "I h-have not done what you have asked m-me to do, master." He started to scream in pain as Lord Himuro twisted his ear clockwise.

"And why is that?" the lord growled, pleased at the cries of pain coming from the boy.

"B-because I don't know h-how to do it," Aoichi answered in between sobs.

"Say that again," Lord Himuro screeched as Aoichi's earlobe started to tear apart.

"I said I don't know how to do it, master," he yelped.

Lord Himuro pushed him down to the ground hard, then he shouted, "Boy, you better do something about this soon. If you don't sleep with twenty people and offer their hearts and blood to the gods by the time you're 20, bad things will happen to you." He stormed out of the room and slammed the sliding door shut, leaving the 12-year-old in agonizing pain and in a very, very pissed off mood.

"And what the hell are you gonna do if I sleep with all these people and kill them by the time I'm twenty?" he cried. "You good-for-nothing bastard."

Aoichi let himself fall onto the hard wooden floor. He ran his finger over his ear and cursed under his breath as he felt the bloody tear get crusty. He closed his eyes and let the tears run down his face while he tried to remember his happy past, but it was impossible because he had no happiness in his life.

Well, all except for a stranger who had stayed at the Himuro Mansion for a short while.

He remembered when he had first met her under the cherry blossom tree very early in the morning. She became lost somehow while she was traveling all alone and stumbled upon the area at the time. So Aoichi took her in secretly and gave her shelter in his room. There, they spent many blissful moments together, such as playing tag and telling each other their most secret of secrets. Every minute with her was true happiness in his hellish life, and he liked it most when they would hold each other on chilly nights.

And then there was a moment he couldn't forget, no matter how hard he tried. The most heartless memory that haunted his mind for an eternity.

It all happened on a Monday.

The two young friends were sitting in Aoichi's room, snuggling together in a safe corner. They held each other's hands, feeling the warm sunlight brushing their cheeks. As the sun started setting, Aoichi started to have a tingly feeling inside his body. He didn't know what it was, but he did know that whatever it was, it made him feel special and joyous. Then he soon realized that it was something called... love. And he wanted the girl to know that he loved her so much, but he couldn't find the courage to tell her.

All of a sudden, she rested her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes, feeling the gentle breeze of the evening air dance with her hair. She gripped Aoichi's hand tightly and said, "Aoichi-kun... do you love me more than a friend?"

He was awestruck and speechless, unaware of the shadowy figure that stood behind him. Right when Aoichi was about to tell her the answer, Lord Himuro drew his knife from his torso and struck it in the girl's back, straight through the right lung.

And before he realized it, Aoichi had just witnessed the stabbing of his best friend, and the cruelest person on Earth was responsible for this evil act.

Lord Himuro took hold of Aoichi's hair and tugged on it until blood rushed from his scalp. Then he threw him straight to the ground and screamed, "How could you bring this girl here without my permission? A thing like her is not allowed to be here anyway!"

Aoichi stood up and looked at his master straight in the eye, then he shouted, "She is not a thing, she is a human being! And I am, too."

The master slapped Aoichi across the face several times until teeth fell out of his mouth. Soon after, Aoichi wobbled to the floor and shut his eyes.

Even though Aoichi and Lord Himuro didn't notice, the dying girl was watching her best friend being abused by a beast. And she knew she would not watch another second of this. She wanted to protect Aoichi, the kind boy who took her in when she had nowhere else to go. The friend who never failed to make her laugh when she was down. The only person she truly loved in a world full of hate and cruelty.

Protecting him was her only priority, even if it meant sacrificing the last minutes of her life. So she took action and pushed Lord Himuro away from Aoichi, then she attempted to grab the knife from the man's hand. Lord Himuro gripped onto the knife tightly and stabbed the girl again, this time in the stomach. He drew the knife from her body, then he tossed the knife and placed a large jar at Aoichi's feet and growled, "When she dies, take out her heart with that dagger and take the blood she coughs up. I should see you with that bloody heart and her body in thirty minutes." And with that, he exited the room with a satisfied smirk.

When Aoichi opened his eyes, he was horrified at what he saw: his dying best friend gasping for air, coughing up blood. He limped to her side and held her head close to his heart, which was beating rapidly.

"Aoichi," the girl whispered as she gently touched his cheek, which was very red from all the slapping that the bastard had done. "Do me a favor..."

"Anything," he said as he held her hand and kept it close to his other cheek. Tears started welling up in his eyes as she coughed up some more blood on her purple silk yukata.

"If you love me... take the dagger and kill me now," she muttered. She gasped for more air, then she rested her head on his shoulder while she was positioned on his lap.

"Isn't there any o-other way I can show my love to you?" Aoichi cried as the dying girl's eyes started to shut.

"That's all I needed to hear, Aoichi," she coughed. The blood wouldn't stop running from the corners of her mouth.

"I still need to know your name," Aoichi said. "It's been three weeks since you've came, yet you still never bothered to tell me."

"My name is Yuko," she whispered quietly. She looked up at Aoichi, waiting for something to happen.

"Yuko... I love you," he said for the first time. All she could do was flash her beautiful smile one last time, then with one last cough of blood, she went limp in his arms as her head tilted a little to the left. Then Aoichi took the dagger and sliced open her chest, crying after every single movement. He gently took out her heart and placed it in the jar, then he slowly picked her up and carried the jar and Yuko in his arms and brought them outside.

When Aoichi stepped outside, all the residents of the mansion met him with shocked and horrified looks on their faces. Lord Himuro turned back to look at him and smiled evilly, then he took the jar containing Yuko's heart and threw Yuko to the ground. All the young kids screamed at the sight of her bloody chest and face. He then grabbed Aoichi by the ear and shouted at everyone to shut up. He then cleared his throat and said, "Hey kids, you see this young boy right here? He has committed a very horrible sin. You know what the sin was?"

A wave of what's and huh's washed across the crowd of people.

Lord Himuro let go of Aoichi's ear and threw him to the ground with Yuko. He then shouted, "He let that filthy creature in this mansion three weeks ago without my permission. So if you don't want to end up like this bastard, then do not, under any circumstances, let someone like that come here to this mansion. Do all of you hear me?"

"Yes, master!" the family and residents of the mansion answered.

"Good. Everybody dismissed." As everyone started going back into the mansion, Aoichi earned many worried looks and death glares from some elder and some youngsters. He bit his bottom lip and tried to hold back his tears, but they wouldn't stop. Lord Himuro saw this and smiled with pleasure, then he kicked Aoichi's back until he heard it crack, then he went inside and shut the doors.

All Aoichi could do was hold Yuko in his arms and cry, knowing that his happiness was gone.

TBC